New Blog Found

Hey check out the new blog I just came across. The blogger is funny and really entertaining...
Its called "Shut up I'm Counting" ...isn't that a perfect title? lol Check her out even the opening picture is cute and makes you smile. :-) "me likey hokey pokey" LOLOL too funny!

RAVELRY!

Ok...FIRST: OMF-ingG! Ravelry has to be one of the most fantastic ideas to come to the internet that I have come across in a long long time. If you have not heard about it or come across it somewhere in blogland...THEN WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN? LOL....

It is fantastic, they are still in beta testing because they are adding things and improving things and just opened up in May 2007. But I have to tell you I have been a beta tester for many geeky type things over the years...and if this site is still in beta test I cannot imagine what it will be like when its full fledged!

What is it? Well it is a database, organizing tool and network for fiber artists, designers and hobbiests. It is the best pattern, yarn and project organizer I have ever seen. I would challenge you to find something better. Seriously! It is simple to use, verstile...and get this...FREE! You have got to see it for yourself. There is a tour of it here. The tour does not come close to showing you all that the site has to offer.

Since they are still beta testing, joining is by invite for now. But all you have to do to get an invite is put your name on the list and you will get an invite. It takes awhile to get because of the HUGE response they got. They are doing things right...doing it little by little so the site doesn't crash and so it will work as advertise. They are two young people who had an idea and the talent to put it together. They aren't charging for it and want it to be as great as they invision it. Here you can find a detailed letter that explains how and why they are doing things the way they are.

So go put your name on the list! When you do my id on there is Yarnatic...come play yarn with me!

Yeah me!

I am now the proud owner of some Dave Yarn! My lovely Knitty Otter friends surprised me with some lovely Cabin Cove Mercantile sock yarn! Yeah...1 of the 3 that I am craving! I don't know why...she just did! She is really lovely...can't believe it...its a sock weight but I am not going to use it for socks...I want to make something super cool that will show Dave's gorgeous colors! I can also now join the KAL for the Cabin Cove fiber! More...yeah to me! I do not think that KO understand how happy I am to have recieved this yarn! Seriously! Here are the specs:
Yd: 450 Fingering weight
Gauge: 6.5 to 8 stitches to the inch on US 1 to US 3 needles
Fiber: 80% Merino, 20% Nylon
Colorway: Mountain Meadow, MN 096


I am now on the hunt for a fabulous pattern for this lovely yarn...it is really soft and the colors are very vibrant that does not show up in the picture very well.

Projects Galore 5

Orange Warming Set:

This is the set I made for my honey for Christmas. The hat is a modified cable hat pattern from Stitch n' Bitch Nation. I added extra pattern rounds, made the cable brim longer so that it would fold. The book's pattern called for a short ribbing prior to the cabling but it is too short to cover the ears. So I made it longer and then when the hat was done I picked up stitches around the edge and so that it would fold neatly. As for the scarf, I took the cable pattern for the hat and figured it out so that it would be a flat pattern. I love, love, love how it came out. I am really proud of this scarf, it looks like something that would be found in an expensive store. Finaly I made him fingerless gloves. I used Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride worsted weight in orange. I just love this yarn. It isn't expensive and knits up so nice. The colors are really bright and varied. I wish they made variegated colors. The yarn is perfectly suited to variegation. I have also been told that it felts wonderfully. I am hoping to make something for felting with it.

Speaking of felting I was told also that Patons SWS felts really nicely as well. It comes in really nice colors and has a nice sheen to it. The variegations are done so that there will be a stripping pattern. I am going to buy some soon.

Projects I am currently working on:

1. Shawl (page 20 of Victorian Lace)

2. Socks (in Mag Knits "Jaywalker" pattern with one of Opal's new colorways)

3. Socks (in Modea Sassy Strips, no pattern just my own thing)

4. Afghan (no pattern, just my own thing, using Lion Brand's Homespun and Caron's Simply soft carried together)

5. Butterfly Bag (my own pattern for the bag using a graph for duplicate stitch a friend gave me)

6. Dyeing yarn (did my first try tonight, colors did not come out as deep/bright as I wanted, but it was a first try, skein is hanging in the shower to dry; I used Wilson's food coloring dyes)

New things I want to learn: (some of the links for examples of what I mean are from Knitty Otter, whom is extremely talented and has completed pieces that are excellent examples of the kind of work I want to do as well)

1. Intarsia

2. Cabled type sock pattern

3. Mobius Scarf type project

4. Intricate Lace pattern

5. Faire Isle

6. A sweater

7. Entrelac

8. Making something with sock yarn that isn't a sock. lol

Sigh and school starts back up next Monday. The break went way too fast for me.

Knitty Otter

Hey everyone!
For months have been knitting in a group with a wonderful lady and just today figured out that she is the "Knitty Otter"! Geez I am slow...been to her blog many times and didn't put it together. duh! She is way cool and very talented!

Knitting Chat

I do not know why I am surprised but I am for some reason...I found an online irc chat channel setup for knitting chat! Check it out " http://knittychat.sadevil.org/cgi-bin/irc.cgi "

Have You Met Franklin?

Ok I was just reading The Yarnharlot's blog and found a link to "The Panopticon"...a blog by a gentlman named Franklin who is a knitter, writer, artist, photographer, cartoonist and funny as all HELL! You must check out his blog and his carictures of knitting, especially Dolores! I about split my sides! His blog will be one of my daily reads from now on. He has lots of links to many other creative knitters/writers (many of which I had not come across before).

Also have to mention the blog of a youngwoman that I came across months ago (before I had a blog of my own) who is from "Da Bronx"... where I originally hail from. Her name is Sara Briscoe and her blog is "SistahCraft". Smart and talented woman!

Yarnharlot

I love reading Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's (aka The Yarnharlot) blog...she really is a funny story teller...whether she is talking about her latest project, trip, family or just happenings in her life...she makes me think, laugh and become aware. She is about to go on the DIY Network show "Knitty Gritty" and has been doing a sock a day. Yikes! They are gorgeous but I would hate to do the same thing over and over. I can't wait to see the episode. Since I am getting into making socks now I would like to get as many tips as I can.

I wonder what the deal is with "Knitty Gritty". The episodes are repeats and they keep repeating the repeats. When does the new season start? On the website there is a list of titles for new shows but no new ones have aired in a long long time. I hope it won't be canceled because I really enjoy Vickie Howell. I am doing the cross-over scarf pattern from one of the episodes, two of them actually (in different fibers) and they are coming out gorgeous. I like that the website posts all of the patterns from the show and video clips that help with some of the more difficult techniques.